Spotlight On...Peter Graham

Name: Peter Graham

Hometown: McLean, VA

Education: NYU Tisch (Meisner/Classical)

Select Credits: Two Gentlemen of Verona (Proteus), The Birthday Party (McCann), Twelfth Night (Malvolio), Cymbeline (Iachimo), LEAR (Edmund)

Why theater?: So many reasons; The community, the fun, the adrenaline, the empathy, the truth. When I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut, a priest, and a trash man - so I chose a career where I could be all three.

Tell us about Our Kiki: A Gay Farce: In a few words - Our Kiki is a delicious, heart-filled comedy about four roommates, a gay and straight couple, that switch partners to fool immigration and keep a friend/boyfriend in America. In a few more words it's about an under represented side of the gay marriage debate, and the lengths that people will go to in order to be with the ones they love. It's like “Will and Grace” meets “The Proposal” meets “I Love Lucy”. It's fresh, it's unique, and it's very funny.

What is it like being a part of Our Kiki: A Gay Farce?: It's painful. I spend most of rehearsal laughing - on and off stage, and by the time I go home at night my face feels like it's going to fall off.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Theater has the power to let people take in the full weight and reality of exceptional life circumstances. I love when a show allows me to see something familiar in a new light. That's what happened when I first read the script for Our Kiki - that's how I know it's a good one!

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Many. Jules in Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's Boom. Literally anyone in A Chorus Line; I'm brushing up on my dancing skills. Princeton in Avenue Q.

What’s your favorite showtune?: At the moment – “Santa Fe” from Newsies. I've been working on it with my voice teacher and it gives me goosebumps every time. What a song! I can get through it without crying now, which took some time.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I had the pleasure of meeting Nicky Silver in school and was delighted, after reading many of his plays, to find that the man behind the words was equally outrageous. His characters strike a beautiful balance between absurd and genuine - a type I typically fall into; and working with him would be a pleasure. I would also love to work with Sarah Ruhl. I did The Clean House in college and have read many of her other plays since then; I'm always moved by her writing.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: The little boy from “Love Actually” would play young Peter, I'd play me now, and Neil Patrick Harris would play future Peter. It would be called “My Life in Seasons” and it would make you laugh, cry, and then call your mom to say "girl, you gotta see this".

What show have you recommended to your friends?: It just closed, but I was talking up The Assembled Parties big time. The set alone made me cry. And Kinky Boots; That show is on fire.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Any and everything on Bravo. Even when I hate it, I love it. And Bieber. And T. Swift. I'll pretend like that's all.

What’s up next?: Our Kiki opens and will have five shows throughout August. AND I'll be getting ravaged by a shark this Thursday at 9pm on National Geographic Wild's "When Sharks Attack: California Killers". Spoiler alert: It does NOT end well for me.

For more on Peter, visit www.Peter-Graham.com and follow him on twitter @PeterGrahammm. For more on Our Kiki, follow the show on twitter @OurKikiThePlay or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Ourkikitheplay.